hoppo

See also: hoppō

English

A View of the European Factories at Canton, late 18th cent.

Alternative forms

• Hoppo

Etymology

Uncertain, although probably an irregular romanization of the Mandarin pronunciation of Chinese 戶部 / 户部 (Hùbù), the imperial government's Board of Revenue which oversaw customs and other taxation during the Qing Dynasty. In reference to its agents, a clipping of earlier hoppo-man.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈhɒpəʊ/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈhɑpoʊ/

Noun

hoppo (countable and uncountable, plural hoppos or hoppoes)

1. (historical, archaic, sometimes capitalized) The imperial Chinese board of revenue, especially its branch in Guangzhou during the Qing Dynasty.
   • c. 1808, William Hickey, Memoirs of a Georgian Rake, page 108:

     On the way two Chinese buildings were pointed out to us as hoppo, of custom-houses, at both which all boats […] are obliged to stop and undergo a strict search or examination by a petty mandarin.

   • 1836, Anders Ljungstedt, An Historical Sketch of the Portuguese Settlements in China..., page 86:

     Hoppo. This is a tribunal, that has in charge the collecting of imperial dues on navigation and trade, and remitting the amount to the Grand-hoppo at Canton...

2. (historical, archaic) An imperial Chinese customs officer, especially (sometimes capitalized) the chief customs officer for the South China Sea based in Guangzhou during the Qing Dynasty.
   • 1711, Charles Lockyer, An Account of the Trade in India..., page 101:

     The Hoppos, who look on Europe Ships as a great branch of their Profits, will give you all the fair Words imaginable.

   • 1814, James Wathen, Journal of a Voyage in 1811 and 1812 to Madras and China..., page xvi:

     ...received a most polite invitation from the late Mr. William Parry, a supercargo, to meet the Hoppo (or principal custom-house officer)...

   • 1836, Anders Ljungstedt, An Historical Sketch of the Portuguese Settlements in China..., pages 86–90:

     Hoppo. This is a tribunal, that has in charge the collecting of imperial dues on navigation and trade, and remitting the amount to the Grand-hoppo at Canton... at Macao, the Portuguese designate him by the epithet Grand-hoppo, in contradistinction to another... [T]he Hoppo of Macao... levies on foreigners, coming and going, an arbitrary tax on their persons and baggage. He is assisted by compradors, pilots and others...

   • 1882, William C. Hunter, The ‘Fan Kwae’ at Canton before Treaty Days..., page 36:

     The ‘Hoppo’ (as he was incorrectly styled) filled an office especially created for the foreign trade at Canton... The Board of Revenue is in Chinese ‘Hoo-poo’, and the office was locally misapplied to the officer in question.

Translations

Qing imperial board of revenue

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 戶部 / 户部 (zh) (Hùbù)

Qing imperial customs official

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 關部 / 关部 (guānbù); 粵海 / 粤海 (zh) (Yuèhǎi)關部 / 关部, 粤海 (zh) (Yuèhǎi)关部 (Yuèhǎi guānbù) (Guangzhou official)

References

• “hoppo, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020.
• Hotton, John Camden. The Slang Dictionary, 1873.